Some tips for the upcoming Adidas Sundown Marathon are, when it comes to pacing, top runners aren’t just fast-they’re also very, very consistent. Like finely calibrated metronomes, they quickly dial into a target pace and then hold it steady mile after mile. If you race, this skill is essential: Let the pace lag, and you give up time that you can’t claw back; accelerate too much, and you’ll pay for your exuberance with a late-race fade. If you run simply for fitness, a reliable sense of pace is just as valuable: Channel your inner Goldilocks – not too fast, not too slow, but just right-and you will better achieve the purpose of each workout. Of course, that’s easier said than done. The ability to run by feel is a skill that has to be learned. For example, in a study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers found that experienced collegiate runners could nail their pace to within about lO seconds per mile, while less seasoned recreational runners were off by an average of more than 40 seconds a mile. But simply running more isn’t sufficient-and neither is relying on a GPS, as you’ll never learn how to monitor internal feedback. You also have to adjust your training to fine-tune your inner pacemaker. […]